


The World Doesn't Stop

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, background brotp w/ adrien if you squint hard enough, toxic masculinity, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 23:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11218341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Kim is faced with too much and runs from the classroom, Alix and Max go after him to help calm him down. Kim/Alix/Max





	The World Doesn't Stop

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh I’ve been trying to finish this for like 6 days??? I don’t really like it anymore and I can’t tell if it’s good or bad because of how much I reread it, but o well. Gonna post anyways. Warning for toxic masculinity in the form of thinking it’s ‘weak’ to cry.

Sometimes, Kim wished that the world would slow down, for just a little while. That wasn't something he could really voice to others, what with the attitude he flaunted in front of everyone, but still he wished. It was tough to constantly take more weight onto his shoulders, it was tiring and hard, but he just couldn't stop.

If a friend or classmate or coworker asked a favor, he couldn't say no. Instead, he would talk about how of _course_ he could do it, he was Lê Chiến Kim! When they would smile wide and clap him on the back, Kim would force a smile to his face that would drop the moment they left.

It was hard.

But he couldn't stop.

He really should have saw it coming, the moment his strength could no longer hold onto the responsibilities he carried on his back. He was already so busy, he had so much to do and he had to study for a multitude of tests coming up as well as help his older brother pack and move apartments, and it was just too much. But he couldn't say no. So, instead, he stood without saying anything and walked out of the classroom, breaking into a run when his classmates started to call out for him, concern clear in their voices.

He ran and he ran and he ran until he was out of breath, until he was in a park he didn't quite recognize but wasn't completely unfamiliar. His body shook and he sank onto the nearest bench, trying and failing to catch his breath. Tears threatened to fall, but he fought them back, unwilling to show how weak he felt just then.

Pulling his knees up to his chest, he hid his face behind them and closed his eyes, shuddering breathes coming out as he tried to calm himself.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." A large breath. "Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen." The counting grew more frantic when the tears began to slide down his face. "Sixteenseventeeneighteennineteen..." His fingers dug into his legs, and he was sure there would be fingernail impressions in his skin later, but it was the only thing he could do to make himself feel a tiny bit better. " _Fuck_ , why won't it work?" he groaned, nails digging deeper as he counted higher and higher.

When he reached one hundred fifty two, a hand on his arm made him look up. His vision wasn't clear, but he knew that bright pink hair and blinding green shirt anywhere. With haste, he dropped his legs to the ground and rubbed his vision clear and nose dry in an attempt to appear normal despite knowing he couldn't pretend in front of them.

Max, bless his heart, wasn't very great at being comforting, and wasn't one for physical contact, but still he sat next to Kim and slid an arm around him to show that he was there. Alix's hand still gripped his arm, and she stared at him with an expression he couldn't quite read, but feared would be disappointment.

"Hah, hey guys, what's up? Need something?" he asked, wincing at how his rough his voice sounded.

"Do you?" Alix shot back, a frown forming on her lips. "You ran out of class and we found you in the park outside of Mari's place." That explained why it was familiar- he hadn't been back since they all went to lycee. "Talk to us. Please."

"First tell me how you guys got here."

Max spoke up at this. "Adrien's driver gave us a ride. He wanted to send his regards, by the way. And before you ask how we found you, I managed to calculate your average sprinting speed and found a radius at what point I determined you would tire and stop running. Narrowing it down from there was quite easy."

Kim laughed a little at that. "You just keep impressing me, y'know that?" He started to say something else, but Alix cleared her throat and tapped her foot. Kim looked down at his hands. "Sorry."

"Sorry for what?" she asked. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. We just want you to talk to us."

"There's not much to talk about."

"Bullshit. You don't have to be strong all the time, Kim!" Her hand squeezed his arm harder, but he knew it was out of affection. "Not around the people who care about you," she said, in a softer voice.

That broke him and his shoulders slumped, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes once more. "There's just too much to do, and I can't, I can't. I wish everything would stop, even for a minute, but it won't and I don't know what to do." His hands slapped down against his legs multiple times, and he was on the verge of crying again.

Alix sat down on his other side and reached for his hands. "Hey, it's okay. Maybe the world can't stop, but that doesn't mean you have to keep pace with it all the time. You can stop. You can take a break, catch your breath, sort your thoughts out. And when you're ready to, you can start walking."

Kim nodded. "You know, for such a shorty-" she punched him softly in the arm- "you've got a lot of big advice."

"Gotta make up for it somehow," she chuckled. "Feel any better?"

"I guess. A little. I still feel really bad though, like everything's just... building and building and it won't come out." He looked between his girlfriend and boyfriend. "How do I get it out?"

Seeming to be at a loss for words, Alix stayed silent. Max was quiet too, but in a thoughtful way until he broke the silence between them.

"Cry," he said simply.

"But I-"

"Don't like to, I know. But I think you should give it a try."

"Why? My parents say that makes you weak, _especially_ if it's in public. 'Sides, it won't help anyways."

"On the contrary, scientists believe that tears are a way of relieving oneself of emotion when they have an excess of it. It might not work right away, because it can have a delayed effect, but it's thought to help one feel better. The way a body deals with something is not weak, that is just society enforcing unhealthy behavior. I say give it a try."

"Yeah, it can't hurt. And we can go to my place beforehand, if you want," Alix told him.

Kim was silent for a long moment, and Alix and Max held their breath. Finally, he cracked a smile. "You mean we finally get to go to your house again?"

"Don't get used to it, we only go there under very special circumstances."

"Oh yeah? What're those?"

"You're too tall to fit in Adrien's car."

"That's not actually true," Max inquired, "but in any case, we should go now so as to maximize our time together."

"Alright," he said softly, somewhat subdued as he rose to his feet. The other two stood after him, Max moving to hold his hand while Alix awkwardly draped her arm over his shoulders, making her stand on her tippy toes. Still, their efforts touched him; Max was willing to face his discomforts of physical affections in public and Alix was more than happy to ignore the awkward height difference that often caused a round of teasing among them.

After they arrived at Alix's, both her and Max reinforced that it was okay to cry. He still didn't, and so they settled onto the couch and put in movies they all enjoyed, to some degree. And when the tears slid silently down Kim's face, the others didn't acknowledge it past letting him know they were still there for him. By the time the second movie ended, he had cried himself out, and felt exhausted. His eyelids drooped and he started to sway before falling asleep and collapsing on Alix.

"Oh my god, why doesn't he ever do this to you?" Alix groaned despite how she shifted so he'd be more comfortable rather than waking him or pushing him off.

"You don't seem to actually mind it," Max pointed out, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

"I _guess_ I don't, but he's seriously pretty heavy."

"The woes of dating someone larger who's too cute to deny?"

"You're hitting the nail right on the head with that," she sighed, unable to keep the smile from her face. She quickly kissed his cheek, and let him be the rest of the day.


End file.
